Thousands of Kenyans braved the rain and gathered at Migwena Grounds in Bondo, Siaya County, on Thursday, October 15, 2026, for the anniversary celebrations of the death of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Security personnel were on standby as mourner after mourner streamed in from 6 a.m., singing and dancing to songs in tribute to the veteran leader.

The day’s proceedings were meant to provide a platform for friends and well-wishers who wanted to express their sorrow and pay their respects to the man who died on October 15, 2025, in his eighties after a prolonged illness in India.

Family members said the anniversary celebrations would cut across political lines and urged politicians to bury their differences and remember Odinga for the man he was. Odinga’s wife, Ida, had called on Kenyans to remember the politician who served as Prime Minister, first parliamentary leader and a great Pan-Africanist.

“We want everyone, all political parties and all denominations, to come and remember Baba,” said Ida. “Baba belongs to many people, belongs to many denominations, and belongs to many parties.”

The call for unity and peace was made as political leaders, office-bearers and supporters trickled into Bondo from all over the country to commemorate the anniversary of the death of the man who topped the Bill Gates’s Foundation list of the 100 most influential Africans.

According to Adams Oloo, chairman of the National Steering Committee for the anniversary, the day would feature music and drama. The programme, he said, would be a befitting tribute to Odinga for the man he was and the people he had led.

“The music will be part of the act, and I think it will be a day of celebration,” said Oloo.

Odinga, a former Prime Minister of Kenya, was a dominant political figure for three decades. His first death anniversary comes as his role in the politics of Kenya, especially the positions he held in the government, the constitutional changes and the Pan-Africanism that he represented are being revisited.

The former Prime Minister was the first parliamentary leader and the longest-serving Prime Minister in Kenya’s history. He was also a member of the United Nations Security Council and of the African Union. Odinga led the opposition and won the KANU presidency in 2002. He served as Prime Minister from 2008 until 2013 when he lost the post to Uhuru Kenyatta.